


Stuck Together

by 97Charlie



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling, M/M, Nightmares, Stranded
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-15 06:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5774047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/97Charlie/pseuds/97Charlie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This is all your fault," Barry snapped at Cold.</p><p>"I'm aware," Len responded, banging his hand against the dry wall behind him with a dull thud. "But there's no point in pointing fingers," he drawled, stretching out the 's'.</p><p> </p><p>Cold and Flash get thrown together in another universe, much different from their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. This is All Your Fault

"This is all your fault," Barry snapped at Cold.

"I'm aware," Len responded, banging his hand against the dry wall behind him with a dull thud. "But there's no point in pointing fingers," he drawled, stretching out the 's'. 

Zoom killed Earth-2 Leonard and sent him through one of the remaining portals to their Earth. It sent the S.T.A.R Labs team through a loop. Everyone knew Snart was too smart to get involved with Zoom, and when he showed up with a limp Leonard and dumped him on the front steps of the CCPD, everyone was overjoyed. Most everyone. 

The cold-gun attacks didn't stop, and to everyone who knew the existence of multiple universes, they knew Cold wasn't dead. At least, there was a Captain Cold still in their universe. To everyone else who didn't know of the multi-verses, like Captain Singh for example, it was thought that Cold's gun had been discovered by another villain who wanted to become the next Captain Cold. And now Zoom calculated for Barry to be in the exact place he needed to be. Snart was just and add-on. He got caught off guard at the museum when he saw Snart. He thought the villain would try to lay low and let the world think he was dead. He was off guard enough to not notice Zoom disabling his tech, cutting him off from the rest of the world.

Before he knew what was happening, both he and Len were being kidnapped and dragged to an unknown location on Earth-2. Zoom said nothing when he showed his ghostly face to the two. He only breathed heavily and looked between the pair with wild, soulless eyes.

"I don't guess you have a plan to get us out of here, do you Scarlet?" Len asked, trying to adjust his eyes to the pitch-black room. The way his voice echoed through the room, he could tell it was large, and Barry was on the other side.

"I'm a little tied up at the moment. I'd have to be able to move before I can think of how we're getting out," Barry answered. 

"You can't move?"

"Are you telling me you aren't tied up?"

"Nope. Not a rope in sight," Len said, pulling himself to his feet. "Keep talking so I can find you."

"I don't think that's a good idea. It doesn't look like ordinary r-" Barry was cut off from his sentence when two gloved-hands landed on his chest. He could make the outline of Cold's face, and he could feel him searching for a knot in the rope. "Listen to me! It's keeping me from using the speed force! I don't know what it could do you you do something wrong."

"It's a good thing I'm not a speedster, huh? He obviously didn't plan on taking me with you," he said, prying his fingers into the rope. "I can't find an end to the rope. I could freeze the ropes off."

"Ha, ha, you're hilarious. You wouldn't be able to get back to our Earth," he said. "I doubt he even let you keep your gun."

Snart pulled away from him, hands going to his hips to unholster his cold-gun. When it started up, a cold, blue light spilled into the room. It lit up Len's face and he put his finger to the trigger. "It seems like there's only one cold-gun. No matter the universe."

Barry pursed his lips, looking down at the chrome-colored rope. Circuit boards and wires ran through it all the way around his body. "I told you it wasn't normal rope."

"I could still freeze it off."

"I think you're missing the point. I don't have my speed. Therefore I would freeze. Like a normal person," Barry snapped.

Len let out a sigh and holstered his gun. "Can you stand up, kid?"

Barry grunted and shuffled himself around so he was able to stand. Len braced him, getting him to lean against the wall. Cold shifted to the ground and tried to get his hand to pull down the rope on Barry's thighs. Sparks flew from the rope and Len pulled back in pain. He looked up at Barry and saw his eyes spark with lightning. When he didn't get a response from Barry, he kept going.

His gloves burned and smoked as he pulled at the rope. As he pried the rope down, Barry's legs began vibrating. It helped tremendously with getting it off. After a few minutes, his legs were free. Soon after, they made it midway up his chest.

"Sorry to say this, but my gloves aren't going to last much longer," Len said to Barry.

"Can't you use your jacket?"

"You realize that this is not only part of my outfit, but it is a very expensive part of my outfit. So unless you have $900 to fork out, don't think about it again."

"It's out lives or the coat, Snart," Barry said.

Len glared at him with cold, blue eyes before stripping out of his coat, he must've been sweltering in it anyways, and began working on the remaining rope coiled around Barry's body.

Barry watched the other man work because there wasn't much else he could do in this position. Under the blue parka, Len was wearing a long-sleeve, black shirt with ridges along it. The neck of his shirt peaked just below his collarbone, exposing an expansion of tattooed sin.

"Wanna take a picture? It'll last longer," Len said, eyeing Barry. Blood rushed to Barry's cheeks and he looked away from Cold.

With Len's jacket smoked to shreds, Barry was free, and Len felt like he was hanging out with Mick again with all the smoke in the air. Barry stepped out of the ropes and stretched out his limbs. He did a little dance in place before putting his mask back on. Len, on the other hand, looked at his coat like he just lost a child.

"Let's get home before I have to ice who made me do this," Leonard said, putting his goggles on and looking at Barry expectantly.

Barry raised a brow, "This isn't as easy as you think it is. The portals in this room aren't scattered around the city. They're scattered around the world in this universe. The only way we might be able to escape is to get to the one in S.T.A.R. Labs.

Len scratched his forehead and said, "we can't stay in here forever. Zoom is going to come back. Help me find the door, Allen."

Len lit his cold gun and they looked around the room. Barry was the first to find the door handle in the large room. He called Snart over and before opening it, he said, "you need to prepare yourself Earth-2 is going to look like our Earth, but everything is completely different."

Cold didn't respond. The speedster zipped them away to the nearest populated part of Central City. When they came to a stop, they both nearly passed out on the spot. Plastered across every surface was one phrase, "Central City mourns over Citizen Cold's disappearance."


	2. Enter Lisa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the pair lost in this different Earth try to navigate, they run into a familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Lisa Snart! Leave your thoughts in the comments!

"Who the hell is Citizen Cold?" Barry asked, looking around the near empty street.

"A long lost relative," Snart said sardonically. "He's probably this universe's Cold," Len answered, taking off his goggles so he wouldn't be looking at a tinted view of the already over-cast Central City. His eyebrows were drawn together as he examined this new universe. If he didn't look at the details, he could mistake it for home. For his city. But there were things off. The phrases for ads weren't the same. The CCPD's sigma was no longer "Justice, Peace, & Liberty," it was, "For a Free and Just Society." Len brushed off this not-quite-deja-vu-but-almost feeling off of his shoulders and looked back to Barry. "The one Zoom left for the cops."

Another innocent person killed, and Barry couldn't do anything about it. Everyone who passed by, given there weren't many, seemed to pick out Scarlet, giving him odd looks. Len was keeping a hand on his cold gun, ready to shoot if anything less than amiable walked, or rather ran their way. They were both on the edge of their nerves.

"Snart, put it away. You don't need to kill what these people think of Citizen Cold," Barry said, looking around the street. "We need to get away and think of how we're going to escape."

"I think you need some civilian clothes," Len responded, "unless you want this new world to see you strutting around in a full, red leather suit." Before he could tease Barry further, he saw the familiar trail of lightning leave and return immediately to see Barry standing in jeans, a loose t-shirt, and some nikes. Show off. "Where do you suggest we hide-out?"

"S.T.A.R. Labs? Maybe this Earth's Harrison Wells will know what to do." Wordlessly, Barry raced both of them to where S.T.A.R. Labs should have been. All that was left was a rubble-heap, a giant 'S' lying on the ground.

"No, no. What happened? We have to find out what happened." Snart opened his mouth to try and talk some sense into Barry, but it was pointless. The speedster was already running around, pulling up dust. Len shook his head and took a seat on the ground to wait for Barry to tire himself out. 

Barry eventually came back, a worn look plastered across his face. "Kid, I don't think you're the Flash in this universe. As far as we know, Harrison Wells is long gone. We need to get out of here and worry about it another day. It's getting dark and I know we're both hungry. Maybe my bar still exists in this universe.""

"Don't call me kid," Barry said, and they were gone. Len had barely blinked when he registered that he was sitting in his regular booth. Barry saw him here once. He was surprised that the kid remembered where he sat.

A waitress walked over, and wait, was that? It is! "How can I help you boys to-" she paused, her pad dropping to the table. "Lenny?! Lenny, I thought you were dead? He- that thing, that black thing killed you!"

"Lisa,"he said, clearly at a loss for words. He looked from her to Barry. His mouth was slightly ajar, "This, this isn't going to make sense, but I'm not your Leonard. I'm not from here."

"You're right. That doesn't make sense. Explain," she demanded, her lips pursing.

"I'm from a different universe. I'm not Citizen Cold. I'm Captain Cold," he said cooly, avoiding her stare.

"Captain Cold? What a stupid superhero name." Barry snorted, biting his knuckle to keep himself from laughing. Snart shot him a glare, but that only made Barry laugh harder, nearly falling out of the booth. "What's so funny?" Lisa asked, her head tilting to the side.

"I'm not a hero," he snarled. His hands were in fists and his shoulders were tense. He had half a mind to leave the bar right then and there.

Lisa looked at the two, "Fine, you're not a hero. Do you know where my Len is?"

The humor that lit up Barry's eyes drained away and Len looked up at Lisa. "He's not coming back. Zoom kill Citizen Cold, your Snart."

"There I was thinking for a second, I thought you two could help me," she muttered, picking up her pad. 

"Listen, Lisa. If there's anything we can do to help, we'd be more than happy, right Len?" Barry volunteered. Using the name Len felt and sounded foreign to him. Certainly something he'd have to get used to if he wanted to keep using it.

"Yeah, anything." Len answered, even though this wasn't his sister, he knew this wasn't his sister, he couldn't help but feel compassion for her. 

"I assume you guys don't have a place to stay," she said. "You guys can stay at my place, and you don't have any money, so I guess the meal's on the house."

Barry nodded, and gave her a smile and they proceeded to give her their order. "Must suck not to be able to get drunk, huh Allen?"

"I've learned to live with it," he answered, taking a sip of his water. Snart dunked his fries in his ketchup and took a bit. They sat in silence until Barry spoke up again. "We need to find a portal. If S.T.A.R. Labs was around, I could find out where any sudden energy bursts are coming from. Zoom is faster than I can comprehend. It could be anywhere in the world."

"We don't have S.T.A.R. Labs, but you can't dwell on that fact. What's that other one? Mercury? Maybe we can sneak in there," Snart suggested, taking a bite of his burger.

"But I've never been in Mercury Labs, not to do anything productive at least."

"I'm sure you can manage," Cold responded, finishing his plate.

"I'm going to need more food than this. My metabolism works in super speed, so nothing really holds me over for long." 

Len raised a brow. That was a new one. It made sense, but it was still a surprise. Something to file away for later use. "If you can wait until tomorrow morning. We'll hit up a store then and find a way into Mercury Labs."

"Two problems with that. One, we're not stealing, and two, we're not breaking into Mercury labs."

"Unless you have a better plan, Scarlet, that's what I'm going to do," Len replied, watching as Lisa came back to get their plates.

"My shift's over, boys. Let's head home," Lisa said, taking off her apron as Barry and Len got up from their booth. "So are you two... dating? Why are you here together?"

Barry's face turned red, and he looked over to Snart. "No, we're just... we got caught in the crossfire of Zoom. In my world, I'm the Flash. A speedster, and Cold, well, we're at odds most of the time."

Lisa didn't say anything else about the matter, rather she moved on to their current living arrangements, "I live in an apartment. One bedroom. I have a pull out couch that you guys can take." She came to a stop at a small building, letting them in. "There's something I need to know."

"Anything," Barry answered.

"Is there any way you can recover Lenny's body? Or ashes? Or something?" She asked, stopping the pair in the hallway. 

Barry and Len exchanged glances, "I'll try," Barry said, "but I don't know if we'll even be able to get out of this place, let alone get home and bring something back."

Lisa took this as a "I'll try," which was good enough for her. She led Len and Barry to her small living room and proceeded to pull the couch out. "You guys can watch TV if you want. Here's the remote. The blankets are in that closet."

"Thanks, Lisa," Len said, giving her a rare smile. A genuine smile, not a smirk. Lisa walked out of the room, and they heard her door close. Len's fingers immediately went for the hem of his shirt and he stripped it off to expose his near covered in tattoos chest and arms. He went to take off his pants and Barry let out a small cough. He looked up at the other and rose an eyebrow, "can I help you?"

"You're... uh, are you just going to sleep in your underwear?" Barry asked, "Don't you sleep in night clothes?"

"Are you missing the fact that I don't have any of my possessions with me? Besides, I don't usually sleep in anything but my underwear unless it's too cold," Leonard responded, "And what, you expect me to sleep in jeans? I don't hate myself. You can't tell me that you want to sleep in those pants." Len waited for a response and when he got none, he took off his pants. He grabbed a few blankets and pillows and tossed them on the bed.

Barry let out an audible sigh, internally agreeing with Len. These pants wouldn't be comfortable to sleep in, and he should probably take them off. Before he could change his mind, he shed his own pants and climbed into the makeshift bed. Len had to bite back a bark of a laugh at the sight. He rolled his eyes, and climbed under the covers.

˜*˜*˜*˜*˜*˜*˜  
The kid fell asleep quickly, but Leonard couldn't manage to slip off. It might've been easier to fall asleep if a) Barry didn't steal the covers, b) if he didn't fidget, and c) if he didn't try and take up the entire bed. He felt bad for whoever Barry would marry. The final straw of Barry's awful sleeping habits was when he started to literally vibrate. He sat up in the bed and he was about to wake the kid when he saw the look on his face. It was contracted in pain, and he was giving out small groans. 

"Hey, kid." No response. "Hey. Kid," he said, slightly louder. Barry's breathing picked up and he turned to the opposite side of Snart. He put a hand on the speedster's shoulder, "hey, Barry. Wake up," his voice was a harsh whisper. He took to shaking Barry's shoulder. "Kid, it's just a nightmare, wake up." Barry's hand landed on Snart's forearm, his eyes lighting up like they had in the warehouse when he was trying to get the ropes off. He stared at Len with giant-deer-in-the-headlights look. "It's okay. It was just a dream."

"It was Zoom," he said, easing up his grip on Snart's forearm. Barry was so out of breath, he was panting. His heart was thumping against his chest. "I should leave. I need to go for a run."

"No. A run is the last thing you need right now," Len said, not letting up on his grip on his shoulder. "You'll get lost. You'll get hurt. It won't do you any good."

Barry nodded, easing down into the bed. He was sleep deprived, and so was Len, so that is probably why what happened next happened. Barry kept his hand wrapped around Len's arm and tugged him down on the bed with him. Len felt his own heart jump a little at the moment, afraid that Barry would pull away immediately if he realized what he was doing. But he didn't, so he went with it. 

His left arm wrapped around Barry's chest and he put his right arm underneath the other's head. Barry's breaths evened out and he fell asleep again. He didn't fidget any further. Len kept his eyes on Barry's face the best he could from the angle he was at behind him. It didn't contort or look pained. He was satisfied with that, and he soon fell asleep, breathing in and out to match Barry's breaths. At least if they had to be stuck here, they were stuck together.


	3. Mercury Labs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for my cat, who wouldn't stop walking across my keyboard as I tried to write it.

Leonard woke up the next morning with his nose pressed into Barry's head, the speedster exhaling breathy snores. He widened his eyes when he realized how tangled he was in Barry. If the other woke up now, he might not fully remember the previous night. Sometime during the night, Len wrapped his leg around Barry's waist, so he began untangling himself from there. He moved his leg to his side and then went for Barry's fingers that were gripped around his forearm. He heard the other give a small groan as he tried to do so and his features tightened. His shoulders tensed up when Barry began to shuffle around, turning to face him. He expected Barry to wake up and begin yelling at him, but his eyelids fluttered open and no such thing happened.

They met eyes, and Barry's soft, sleepy, green eyes contrasted with Len's high-alert blue ones. He blinked lazily and took in a deep breath. When he nuzzled himself into Cold's naked chest, Leonard decided that the other must not be fully awake. Barry's t-shirt covered chest pressed against his as the other took deep, steady breaths. He stared up at the ceiling, trying to decide whether or not he wanted to pull away and wake Barry up completely. He heard the soft click of a door opening and heard soft footsteps padding down the hallway to the living room. He lifted a finger to his lips when Lisa entered the room to signal that Barry was still asleep.

"Not dating, huh? Not even a little bit?" She asked in a soft tone, smiling wide. Leonard shot her a glare, somewhere between wanting to roll his eyes at here and wanting to deny that this ever happened. He opted for the eye-rolling. 

"He had a nightmare," Len answered quietly, trying to stretch himself away from Barry. Just as he managed to pull most of his body away from the other, the speedster's hand latched onto his, threading them together. Lisa lost it. A loud laugh burst from her mouth and Barry woke. He shot straight up in bed, looking around to see if there was any danger.

Barry looked down to see his hand connected to Len's and he withdrew it hastily. "Uh, sorry. I guess I thought you were Patty," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. The poor kid was the picture of embarrassment. He was looking at the covers, fiddling with them between his fingers. A slight red dusted his cheeks and ears as he tried to look anywhere but Leonard.

"Don't worry about it, ki-" Len cut himself off, remembering Barry telling him not to call him kid anymore. "Don't worry about it. How are you and... Patty?" 

Barry let out a bitter chuckle before saying, "she dumped me. She moved after Mardon was captured."

Len nodded, moving to put his shirt on that he had regardlessly tossed to the floor. "Is the plan still in motion for today?" He asked as he climbed out of the bed to retrieve his pants and his goggles he placed on the table.

"It's the best bet we've got," Barry answered, moving to put on his own clothes. 

"Wait- whoa, what plan?" Lisa asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair. 

"We're going to get Barry here some more food and we're going to pay Mercury Labs a visit," Leonard answered, grabbing his cold gun from where he set it down on the coffee table.

"I can give you food, and you should probably do some research before breaking into the best science facility in the country," Lisa said, looking at Cold and Barry like they were idiots.

"No offense, but I don't think you have enough food to hold me over. I have super metabolism," Barry said.

"And no offense, but I know what I'm doing when it comes to breaking into places. I know that I have to do research. This ain't my first rodeo," Len said, tempted to power on his gun just to see the glow light up the surrounding area, but no. Not the time or place.

Lisa let out an annoyed sigh and said, "clean up the couch and pack it back together before you leave. If you guys want to crash here tonight, swing by the bar before I get off of work, which is about two or three depending on the crowd tonight."

Barry gave her a nod and Len began walking towards the door. He let Barry clean it up since he put the bed together. Besides, it was much more fun to watch Barry zip around the room than it was to do it himself. When he finished, they exited the apartment, saying goodbye to Lisa.

"Stealing for food is different than normal stealing, just so you know. It's hard to steal food. It's easier to just knock cash off of someone than try to walk out with a box of cereal under your shirt," Snart began. "So what I like to do is target the biggest douchebags I see, swipe their wallet, get all of the cash, and leave it in a trashcan. It'll be a lot easier with you on my side."

"Are you suggesting that I help you steal from people?" 

"Only if you don't want to starve. This is more for you than me," Len responded, putting all of his weight on one leg and a hand on his hip. "We can move straight to Mercury Labs if you want to bypass food."

Barry stood there and stared at Snart. He knew he was right, and that they should get moving if they wanted to get anything done today. Barry flashed away and watched the population, searching out the worst looking people to steal from. He got four wallets, taking their money and putting them back before they were missed. He came back to Snart with about two hundred dollars of stolen money.

"What's it feel like to be on the good-paying side of good versus evil?" Len asked, a smirk written across his face as he fingered through the money with old, white men he didn't recognize from history class.

"Disgusting," he said, taking back the money. He ran them both to the nearest grocery store and began shopping. "I don't understand how you think it's okay to take from people."

"It's usually the choice of them or me. I choose me," Leonard said, walking beside Barry as he scoured the store for things he wanted to eat. "I'm not surprised that you and I have differing morals. You had a father figure who actually loved you. I had a father who taught me no one would love me or care for me if I couldn't fend for myself." 

Barry went silent at that. He threw some grapes in the cart and decided that was enough. He ended up spending about $150 on food out of the two hundred. He pushed the remaining fifty dollars in Len's hand and said, "I don't want this."

"Next time, don't stop me when I'm on a heist. Then neither of us will get kidnapped again," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'll keep that in mind the next time a mass-murdering, speedster lunatic is on my trail," Barry said, letting a small smile slip past his lips.

Len and Barry found a bench outside of the store and they sat down so Barry could eat. The kid looked like he was about to pass out, so Len decided that they shouldn't run anywhere else before he ate. Leonard munched on strawberries as Barry crammed everything he could, as quickly as he could down his throat. When he finished, he threw away the trash and looked back at Len. "How do you suggest we start planning on how we're going to break into Mercury Labs?"

"First off, not so loud. I don't want everyone to know how I'm spending my afternoon," Leonard said, throwing his strawberry container in the trashcan. "Second, we take a tour. It's the easiest way to get to know the general layout of a place."

"Like the first heist you went on with your cold gun," Barry said, leaning against a column at the entrance of the building. "Okay, if it's the same time as our Earth, the next tour should be in," he glanced down at his watch, "twenty minutes."

"We should get going, Scarlet," Len said, walking up to Barry, putting on his goggles. He rolled his shoulders, waiting for Barry to run them to the lab. When he didn't, he looked over to him, giving him a questioning look.

"What if we don't get back? What do you think they think's happened to us? Do you think there's already been a funeral? Do you think something's happened to my city?" Barry asked, staring off at nothing.

Comfort. Not Snart's specialty. The only time he truly had to console someone was when his sister was hurt, which didn't happen that much anymore. The last time he could remember was when her prom date stood her up, and that time he just beat the shit out of her to-be date. For some reason, he didn't think Barry would take kindly to the reaction. He raised a hand like he was going to put it on Barry's shoulder, but he withdrew. He rolled back and forth on his heels, letting out a small sigh as he debated on what to say. "Listen, Barry. The way I see it, it's not worth worrying about. Our first priority is to get back home, not worry about what's waiting for us there. Worrying about the unknown is what restricts people from moving forward."

Barry seemed to accept these words because before Snart knew what happened, they were standing in front of Mercury Labs. Ten minutes until the next tour. They walked in together, joining a small group of about ten people and a tour guide as they began to start the tour. As they walked through, Len noticed that Barry was scouting the more nerdy parts of the lab than actually looking for a way out if things went wrong or how they were actually going to break into the place. He didn't mind though. He decided that he'd rather Barry be having fun than worrying about things outside of his control.

Len's eyes slid from a entrance to see a large screen in the center of a room with one blinking area on what looked like a map of Central City. "What's that?" Len asked the tour guide.

"That's the outstanding energy map for Mercury Labs. Ever since the tragic accident at S.T.A.R. Labs, Mercury Labs has tried to track any excess amounts of energy," she answered, continuing with the main part of her tour as she didn't seem to want to bird walk.

He filed the information away and ran his eyes over the rest of his surrounding area. His eye caught when he saw an oddly familiar, lanky body with a lab coat and glasses walking around another part of the laboratory. He panicked for a moment, thinking Barry had wandered off by himself to try and blend in with the actual workers, but he found that his Barry was still in their small crowd. He spun his Earth's Barry around and pointed to the other in the distance. "We need to leave, now."

They started walking away from their group when the tour guide called out to them, "wait, you can't leave the group!"

"We won't wander around. It's a family emergency," Leonard called back, not stopping when the woman said something in return that he couldn't quite make out. Once they got to the outside of the Lab, Barry looked at Len, then back at the building. "Don't worry. I've got everything set. You just need to get your suit from where ever it is you stashed it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for the break-in for the next chapter! I'll have it up soon!


	4. Survival

"So, Red, how's it feel to be back in your suit?" Len asked as the other danced around, keeping an eye out for any guards that Len knew weren't there. He had a map in his mind of the sentry routes.

"Feels like home," he answered, giving Len a small smile.

"And we're going to be there soon," Snart answered. "I'll watch your back. Just get us into that room."

When they arrived in the lab, Len had his gun un-holstered and ready to fire. Scarlet ran around the room at record speed, trying to turn the large screen on to pinpoint the location of the portal. Len kept his eyes on the hallway when he heard the screen booting up.

He glanced back and saw Barry typing rapidly on a keyboard. One spot lit up and Barry zoomed in on it. The kid's face went pale and he looked up at Cold, totally mortified.

"We have to go," Barry said, his voice doing that ridiculous vibration thing. Barry was looking over his shoulder and a shiver shot down Cold's spine. He turned around slowly to see another version of Barry pointing a gun at his chest.

~.~.~.~.~.~ 

Cold could barely keep from busting out laughing at the second Barry. He held his cold gun up and pointed it at Barry number two. "Nothing in here is worth your life, right? We're not hurting anything. We'll be out of your hair soon."

"Cold? Citizen Cold?" He asked, looking over at the Flash. "You're not Leonard."

"It's a long story," Snart muttered, "but, yes and no, I'm not Citizen Cold, but I am Leonard. I'm Captain Cold. Wait- how do you know his name?"

"Tell me one reason why I should let you go. For all I know, you could be stealing our designs. Everything I've ever worked on. You could've killed Citizen Cold. That suit looks like that black thing that took him," Barry-2 snapped back, avoiding Len's question completely.

"If you shoot that gun, I'll freeze the bullet and you where you stand," Len said menacingly. "I don't think you want that, Barry," he continued, not realizing he said the other's name until it was too late.

"How do you know my name? Have you been following me?" He asked.

"Like I said, it's a long story," He answered. "Scarlet, it'd be real nice if you pulled an escape right about now. I'd hate to have to hurt his kid."

Cold looked over his shoulder and saw Barry moving the muscles in his face so any trace of his features was erased. "We can't leave him here. I can't let this world think Citizen Cold went rotten and disappeared," Barry said before speeding to stand beside Cold.

His cold gun was whirring, and Len's finger was twitching on the trigger. "It's do or die time, kid. You might be able to survive a bullet, but I can't."

Barry-2 looked between them, mostly blown away by Barry-1's speed. "Tell him what happened to this Earth's Cold, Snart."

Len shot Barry a warning glare, his lips pursed before turning to Barry-2. "I didn't expect to have to share this information with one person, let alone two. We're not from this Earth. We're trying to get home, not sabotage your nerd findings," Len said, lowering his gun as a gesture of solidarity. "Citizen Cold is dead. Zoom, from Earth-2 killed him. He brought me and B- the Flash to this Earth. I guess we'll just call this Earth, Earth-3 for story-telling purposes. Is that enough for you?"

"So Cold's dead," he paused. "Len's really dead."

"How'd you know his name?" 

"We were, uh, friends." Barry-2 lowered his weapons and shuffled his feet a little. Damn, this kid looked sorrier than his Barry with those puppy-eyes.

"Hey, 's gonna be okay. We'll do our best to stop Zoom," his voice was softer than he had ever allowed it to be around strangers. Around anyone other than Lisa, honestly. Before the kid could respond, Cold was standing in some darkened alley with no other than the Flash.

"You said we'd do our best," Barry began, "our best."

"It was for show, kid. Don't think too much about it," Len said, waving his hand dismissively.

"There's good in you, Len, " Barry said, a huge, shit-eating grin plastered on his face. No this spiel again.

"This is survival. Nothing else. The only I person I care about probably thinks I'm long dead, and I need to go back to her," Snart snapped, his eyes narrowing as he advanced on Barry. "No one cares about _me_ except for her, and she deserves to know that I didn't vanish on her."

Barry was pressed against the brick wall of the alley, hands up in a sign of surrender. "There's more than one person that cares about you."

"And who would that be, Barry Allen?"

"What about Mick?"

"Associate. I don't care about him; he doesn't care about me."

"Mardon."

"Please. He's a rogue and he owed me one."

"Me."

There was silence. Len didn't have a response to that. He raised his hands with his palms facing Barry and pushed Scarlet that final step to the wall. "Don't lie to me," Len said, though there was no sign of malcontent in his voice. Just skepticism. "I'll leave your ass here and I'll find my own way home."

"I could just follow you, because, you know, I care about you," Barry said, still smiling giddily. "You care about me, too. I can tell. You comforted me last night."

"Self-preservation," he shot back.

"You know what I think? I think you're full of it."

"Wanna bet?" Len asked.

"How are you going to prove it-" Barry was cut off by a pair of lips colliding with his, two hands clawing at his suit to try and get a grasp. Len's nose rubbed at the edge of Barry's leather mask and he noticed that the speedster's eyes weren't open. There was still shock in his features, though. He brought a hand up and pulled the mask of to expose Barry's face. He tugged at the other's hair and kissed him deeper.

Len pulled away before he got carried away in the moment. Both of their lips were red and swollen and shiny with spit. "See, didn't mean a thing. Good way to shut you up, too."

Snart wiped his mouth and pushed off of the wall. "You- I-" Barry stammered. "You kissed me."

"Good. Nice observation. Let's get moving," Leonard said, walking away from Barry.

Barry jogged up beside Len, tempted to grab his arm and pull him back in the alley. He resisted. He pulled his mask back on and said, "we can't go tonight. The portal is inside someone's house. Joe's house. We should do it in the middle of the day when everyone is at work."

"Back to Lisa's then," Len said, walking in the direction of the bar.


	5. Chapter 5

Snart refused to talk about it for the rest of the night. It didn't mean anything. He didn't have to listen to the kid yammer on about how, deep down, he had morals. In fact, because he kissed Barry, he was pretty star-struck for most of the evening. Barry left him to go change out of his suit and into some normal clothes. Len didn't bother going inside the bar. Instead, he kicked back on the wall next to it. A few people walked by, giving the gun attached to his hip a questioning glance. When Barry finally came back, he was in what Len would consider questioning clothes. He had a graphic t-shirt that said "Just Chill" with little snowflakes all around it. Haha. This kid had jokes.

"Taking a walk on the wild side, I see," Len said, picking up and tearing off a tag on the new clothes.

"Like you said, survival."

"I don't think survival includes stealing a shirt to make jokes at my expense," Len said under the guise of a snark. 

"Hey, it's clothes. How do you know I didn't just grab the first thing I saw?"

"Because you took forever. You must've been looking for something to make a joke of me," he said, pushing himself off of the wall. "Are you hungry or do you want to wait out here for Lisa? I could really use a smoke."

Barry's face dropped a little at the mention of smoking. "You smoke?" He asked, like he was let down.

"When I'm stressed, I do," Leonard answered, looking around for any sign of someone with a lighter or an embering cigarette.

"It'll kill you, you know."

Len let out a dry chuckle and responded, "I can only hope. I know you're the morality police and all Red, but don't bug me about this. If cigarettes kill me, it'd be a blessing.

Barry didn't argue, but it was clear he wasn't happy about it. Len flagged someone down the street and got a smoke, thanking them as he walked back to Barry. When he got back to the kid, he had an alarmed look on his face. "Something wrong?"

"That's the Pied Piper, uh, Hartley Rathaway," Barry said, looking down the street where Hartley was glancing back. He was looking after Len. Len gave a small smile in his direction, the other giving a mischievous smile back. When Len looked back to Barry, an emotion he had never seen was written across his face. Was that jealousy?

"Is that supposed to mean something in this world? He could be an idiot here. He probably doesn't have the gloves in this universe," Len said, taking a slow drag of the cigarette before exhaling through his nose. Scarlet was staring at him and at Hartley, much too concerned. After a while, Leonard broke the silence, "Okay, I'm going to try something, and I don't want you to say no right away.""

"What is it?"

"Since you can heal quickly, your lungs wouldn't take permanent damage, right? Just take a drag and relax with me. We deserve it, Red," he said, holding out his cigarette to Barry.

Barry took a tentative step forward and took a tentative step forward and took the light from Len's fingers. "I know it shouldn't be hard to believe that you smoke, but it's still weird."He looked at the fading embers, contrasting with the final white of the cigarette. He brought it to his lips and breathed in the harsh tobacco taste.

It was dirty and heavy in his mouth, nicotine flooding his senses. He felt dizzy and nauseous and amazing all at once. Then, oh no, it was too hot. He coughed out a breath, realizing that he hadn't exhaled. The smoke fumed all over Len's face. Len had closed his eyes though, like he knew what the speedster was going to do. The gray smoke wrapped around Len's head, clouds of it going over his shoulders before dissipating into the air.

"I haven't smoked in a while. I only do it when I'm anxious."

Barry was coming down off of some kind of weird nicotine high, so it took him a second to respond. "Captain Cold gets nervous?"

"Yeah, kid. Captain Cold gets nervous," he finished the cigarette and tossed it to the ground.

"Stop calling me kid," Barry said, not for the first time. Ït makes me feel weird. Like you could be my dad."

"Red, I'm pretty sure I _am_ old enough to be your dad. How old are you? 24? 25?"

"26." he corrected.

"43. So, that's what? 17 years?" 

"Don't say it like that. It's gross," Barry said, scrunching up his face a little. It was getting late and the bar looked like it was going to close soon. "I don't want to say I kissed someone 17 years older than me."

"To be fair, I kissed you."

"That's even worse."

"It is what it is. I can't change it, and neither can you. Unless you can travel back in time," Cold said, fixing the sleeve of his shirt.

"Lisa's probably going to be done soon," Len said, looking back through the window at Lisa packing up. He opened his mouth to say something else, but it was interrupted by someone pushing past him, nearly knocking him off balance.

His brow furrowed, his face turning sour. He was going to ask him what his problem was, but he was already in the bar. Something lit up inside him, flames of anticipation licked at him. "Something's wrong."

"It was just a jerk in a hurry to make last call. It probably didn't mean anyth-" Gunshot. A gunshot rang in Len's ears. Barry sped into the bar, Len close behind him, and the cold gun was out and ready to shoot. The man who pushed past him was holding a gun at Lisa at the register.

"You touch her or the money, you die," Len said.

The man looked back at him, a cutting smile written into his features. "Citizen Cold? Back from the dead so soon?"

"Surprise. I'm not Citizen Cold. Put the gun down before you figure that out the hard way," Cold said, his voice switching to his cold persona. 

The thief looked from Len to Barry, gun still to Lisa's head. "I think you'll save the girl before you save the money." The man shoved Lisa forward, into Len's arms. The guy took off out the door and Barry went after him.

Barry returned to the bar shortly after to see Len comforting Lisa, who wasn't crying, but was on the verge of tears. He looked up at Barry, a hard mask set on his face as Barry jogged over to put the money back in the register. "Where'd he go, Scarlet?" Leonard snapped, walking Lisa over to a booth before jogging out the door. 

"He's gone. No one's hurt. Don't worry about it," Barry said, trying to keep Len level-headed.

"He threatened to hurt my sister. I'm going to hurt him."

"She's not your sister." Cold froze. "You protected someone who wasn't your sister."

"She looks like her. They're basically the same," he said, any and all emotion draining from his face.

"The fact remains- you helped someone who wasn't family."

**Author's Note:**

> So this is going off of something from the comics in the universe Flashpoint where Barry Allen didn't become the Flash, Captain Cold was a hero. So be excited for that!


End file.
